Before developing an internet marketing strategy that may include tactics such as SEO, PPC, and social media, it’s important to have a strong website to market. After all, the goal of an internet marketing strategy is to increase targeted traffic to a website which should in turn result in increased sales, leads, and conversions. Too often, companies over think the website. They want to include every little detail and confuse quality with quantity. The best websites are often simple in nature. They provide all of the important and relevant information, and nothing more or less. Simple websites typically convert better because they are without unnecessary distractions. Think about your favorite websites- they are probably visually appealing, have an easy to understand navigation, and just the right amount of content.
Here are 4 common website mistakes to avoid:
TMI Lead Forms
People will avoid TMI (too much information) lead forms like the plague. They don’t want to spend more than a few minutes filling out a form. In addition, if they are filling out a lead form they are probably still in the beginning stages of their decision process. They probably don’t trust you yet, and they certainly won’t trust you if you ask for TMI.
Too Much Content
High quality content is extremely important, which means that you shouldn’t include extraneous “filler”. A good copyrighter that completely understands the company, the brand, the mission, and the goals should be able to write concise copy for each page of the site in no more than 500 or 600 words. Website visitors often browse the content to find what they need. If they have to scroll through thousands of words of content they may get frustrated and leave the site.
Confusing Navigation
Website navigation is typically at the top of the site and includes dropdown menus to make it easy to maneuver the site. Web users are trained to expect this, so don’t try and be fancy. Stick with what works. Include internal links throughout the site whenever another page is referenced and always have a “Home” link visible.
Non-Specific Landing Pages
A landing page is the page that a user was directed to from another source. It should always be specific to the link or advertisement that led the user to the page. If the link was about patio furniture, the user should be directed to a patio furniture page, not the general furniture page or the homepage. The user was clearly interested in patio furniture and doesn’t want to spend the time browsing your site to find it- so bring them right to it!
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